Water-motor.



No. 741,762. PATENTED OCT. 20, 1 903.

J. W. BROOKS.

WATER MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27. 1903.

no MODEL. r 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

m: uonms PETERS (.0, mom-Lima. WASHINGTON, u. c.

No. 741,762. PATENTED OCT. 20, 1903.

J. W. BROOKS.

WATER MOTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED r113. 27, 1903.

no MODEL. 2 sums-sum 2.

I m", |n||||||||||||| UNITED STATES Patented October 20, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

. WATER-M'OTO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 741,762, dated October20, 1903.

Application filed February 27, 1903. Serial No. 145,409. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JESSE W. BROOKS, acitizen of the United States,residing at Church Hill, in the county of Rusk and State of Texas, haveinvented a new and useful Water-Motor, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to water-motors, and especially to that class ofmotors which are operated by tidal power, and has for its objects toproduce a device of this character which will be comparatively simple ofconstruction, inexpensive to manufacture and erect, efficient. inoperation, and one in which the blades which are acted upon by thecurrent will be automatically locked while under its influence and willafter passing beyond the influence of the current be automaticallyreleased to permit them to swing idle, thus reducing the resistanceoffered by them to a minimum.

The invention comprises the details of construction and combination ofparts more fully described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a motorconstructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a verticaltransverse sectional elevation on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is adetailed section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a similar view onthe line 4. 4. of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar view on the line 5 5 ofFig. 4, and Figs. 6 and 7 are detailed sectional elevations on the linesara andb b, respectively, of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a main shaft mounted in suitablebearings'2 and driven by wheels 3. One or more of these wheels may beemployed, according to the width of the stream or waterway in which themotor is mounted, and inasmuch as these wheels are all identical inconstruction and operation I will describe but one in detail, in which 4indicates a suitable metal framework fixed to the shaft in any suitablemanner, but preferably by bolting or otherwise securing them to rigidframe-bars 4', fixed to and radiating from the shaft 1. This frameworkcomprises upper and lower side bars 5 and 6, end bars 7, and transversepartitions 8, which conjointly form three rectangular open frames inwhich are pivoted wings or blades 9, which are adapted to swing on theirpivots to an open or closed position in the manner and for the purposepresently described.

The pivots 10, on which the blades swing,

are mounted a little to one side of the center of the blades in suchmanner that the blades ;will when released by their locking mechanism,to be presently described, be moved by contact with the water from anopen to a closed position.

For locking and releasing the blades there is mounted on the maindrive-shaft laterally- ,projecting pins 11 of a length sufficient fortheir outer ends to extend a short distance beyond the edge of the bladeand at one side of the framework in which the blade is pivoted. Mountedin the bearings 2 and parallel with the main shaft are rods 12, whichlie snugly against the main shaft and are adapted to bereciprocated'longitudinally thereof, as hereinafter described. Theserods, which are maintained in proper relation with the and out ofengagement with the blades for locking or releasing the same, and whenmoved to the releasing position they occupy a position in alinement withthe end bars 7 or partitions 8 of the frame, as clearly illustrated inFig. 1. This movement of the rods 12 to cause the pins 13 to release orengage the frames is effected automatically bya camgroove 14;, formedinternally of the end hear- ,ing 2, which is engaged by fingers 15,formed at the ends of the rods, preferably by bending their terminals atan angle. The camgroove is so formed that the rods 12, which rotate withthe main shaft, will be moved longitudinally to cause the fingers 13 tolock the blades while in a position to be acted upon by the current fordriving the wheel and to automatically release the blades and permitthem to swing idle after the blades have passed to a point beyond theinfluence of the current.

The wheels are provided with four of the frames 4, which projectlaterally from the main shaft at diametrically opposite points, asillustrated in Fig. 2, and each of these frames has mounted thereinthree of the blades. In assembling the main shaft and the fourreciprocating rods the rods are first inserted through the bearings withtheir end fingers in position in the cam-groove 14, and the main shaftis then inserted between them. Thus the shaft will serve to hold thefingers 13 in engagement with the groove, as clearly illustrated in Fig.5. The rods are caused to rotate with the shaft by being held inengagement therewith through the medium of the framework which supportsthe blades.

Supposing the current which drives the motor to be flowing in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 2, the blades will swing in their openposition edgewise to the water until they arrive at a point which willbring their opposite sides to the current,when the force of the tidethereon will serve to close them, at which time the cam-groove will movethe corresponding rod 12 to cause the pins 13 to engage with and-lockthe blade, thus holding them in their locked position until they havepassed beyond the influence of the current, when the rod will .be movedby the cam in the opposite direction to cause the pins to release theblade, and the weight of the water thereon will cause them to againswing open and present their edges to the water, thus offeringpractically no resistance and materially facilitating the operation ofthe device.

In order that the blades 9 may be permanently locked to stop theoperation of the device, I provide the bearing 2, which has formed onits inner face the cam-groove 14 for operating the rods, with alongitudinallymovable sleeve 16, which is formed at its inner end toconstitute the outer wall of the cam-groove 14 and which has its outerend beyond the bearing-tube transversely grooved, as at 17, to receivesuitable rollers carried by the lower bifurcated end of a lever 18,which is pivoted in a bearing 19, secured in any suitable manner to theupper outer face of the shaft-bearing 2, the lever being extended upwardto a point within convenient reach of the operator or attendant. Thesleeve 16, which normally occupies the position illustrated in Fig. 5,constitutes, as before stated, the outer wall of the cam-groove 14:,which serves during the rotation of the wheel to move the rods 12 to aposition to cause their fingers 13 to release the blades 9, so that byoperating the lever 18 to withdraw the sleeve it is obvious that as thewheel rotates the rods 12 will be moved to position for locking theblades 9 and will remain in such position until the sleeve is againreturned by the lever to normal position to permit the same to returnthe rods to releasing position. From this it will be seen that bymanipulating the lever the blades will all be locked, thus equalizingthe pressure of the water upon them and stopping the operation of thewheel, as will be readily understood, and that when the sleeve is againreturned to normal position by the lever two sets of the blades will atonce be released, thus insuring the immediate starting of the device.

Mounted at the end of the shaft is asprocketwheel 20, connected by achain 21 with a wheel 22, which drives the main shaft 23 of themechanism operated by the motor. The shaft 1 of the motor is alsoprovided at its end with a suitable crank 24 for receiving the lower endof a pump-rod or the like.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I produce a devicewhich is comparatively simple of construction and inexpensive to produceand one which is efficient in operation and permits of the blades beingautomatically locked and released at' the proper times to maintain thempositively closed while being acted upon by the current and permit themto swing idle when beyond the influence of the current, and in attainingthese ends I do not limit or confine myself to the details herein shownand described, as various changes may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit or scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In awater-motor, the combination with a wheel having pivoted wings orblades, of a plurality of rods adapted to be reciprocated, devicescarried by the rods for looking or releasing the blades, means forautomatically reciprocating the rods, and means operable for maintainingall of the blades in one of said positions.

' 2. In a water-motor, the combination with a wheel having pivoted wingsor blades, of a plurality of rods adapted to be reciprocated,

devices carried by the rods for locking or releasing the blades, meansfor automatically reciprocating the rods, and means operable inconjunction with the rods for maintaining all of the blades in one ofsaid positions.

3. In a water-motor, the combination with a wheel having pivoted wingsor blades, of a shaft carrying and operable by the wheel, a bearing forthe shaft provided with a camgroove and a movable collar forming onewall of the groove, a plurality of rods engaged with the groove andoperable for reciprocation thereby, devices carriedby the rods forlocking or releasing the blades, and means for operating the movablecollar to permit all of the rods to remain passive for maintaining allof the blades in one of said positions.

4:. In a water-motor, the combination with a wheel having pivoted wingsor blades, of a shaft carrying and operable by the wheel, stops carriedby the shaft for limiting the movement of the blades in one direction, a

bearing for the shaft provided with a cam:

groove and a movable collar forming one wall of the groove, a pluralityof rods mounted for rotation with the shaft and having fingers Intestimony that I claim the foregoing as engaged with the groove andoperable for remy own I have hereto affixed my signature in ciprocationthereby, pins carried by the rods the presence of two witnesses.

for looking or releasing the blades, and means JESSE W. BROOKS. 5 foroperating the movable collar to permit all i Witnesses:

of the rods to remain passive for maintain- GEO. S. STRONG, Sr.

ing all of the blades in one of said positions. R. L. BALLENGER.

